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nets media reported that the 21-year-old choi young-hee is 2.03 meters tall, has a wingspan of 2.06 meters, and a vertical jump height of 86 centimeters. last season, he played for the cba guangzhou team, averaging 15.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, with a shooting percentage of 46.1% and a three-point shooting percentage of 36.5%.

since childhood, he has been immersed in the influence of basketball culture, thanks to his father, cui mingguang, who is known as the "king of basketball in guangxi". under his father's words and deeds and subtle influence, cui yongxi's love for basketball took root and sprouted like a seed and grew vigorously.

in 2015, in the 3x3 charity competition held by the chinese basketball association-dongguan basketball school-nba training center, choi young-hee was selected by the principal li qun for his outstanding performance and extraordinary talent, and then entered the dongguan basketball school to start systematic training. in 2021, choi young-hee joined the guangzhou long lions men's basketball team with his excellent performance and potential, and started to compete in the cba league the following year. under the careful guidance of head coach guo shiqiang, choi young-hee quickly grew into an indispensable member of the team, and his progress was very fast. he was selected for the chinese men's basketball team at a young age, and participated in the world cup and asian games with the team last year.

this summer, 21-year-old choi young-hee participated in the nba draft, but unfortunately failed to be selected. after that, he did not give up his dream of pursuing the nba, and decided to knock on the door of nba teams through individual tryouts. he represented different teams in the summer league and was recognized by some nba teams with his good performance, including the brooklyn nets.

team reporter lewis specifically mentioned choi young-hee's three-pointer, with the title "chinese sharpshooter". lewis said choi young-hee showed excellent shooting touch in the g league draft camp, making 23 of 25 three-pointers. in addition to shooting ability, choi young-hee is best at defense. this was also recognized by ebersole, the nba's director of international basketball development. ebersole was impressed by choi young-hee when he was training at the nba global academy in australia.

"choi is really good at joking around, he's so impressive, willing to make mistakes, willing to take risks, so everyone speaks very highly of him, from our staff to all of his teammates," ebersole said. "he has really good footwork and plays really hard. those elements, whether it's on the ball or off the ball defense, they help him a lot."

before this, wang zhizhi, battelle, yao ming, yi jianlian, sun yue and zhou qi have successively put on the jerseys of nba teams.existzhou qiafter leaving the rockets in the 2018-2019 season, no chinese player has joined the nba. now, five years later, if choi young-hee can stand on the nba court, he will become the seventh chinese player in history to appear on the nba court.choi young-hee is following in the footsteps of his predecessors, but he has also created new history - choi is the first chinese player to sign a two-way contract.

what is a two-way contract? a two-way contract means that a player will switch between the nba and the development league. usually, he will play for the development league team under the nba team and will be ready to support the nba team when needed. therefore, two-way contract players are not like new players who are drafted. new players are used for training, while two-way contract players are used for use. this is a big challenge for choi young-hee.

in a sense, choi young-hee is the chinese player with the lowest starting point to enter the nba. the previous six players were either selected in the draft or had already made a name for themselves in the cba and received olive branches from nba teams. choi young-hee is embarking on a completely new path: participating in the draft, being eliminated, playing in the summer league, and signing a two-way contract. if the predecessors accepted the invitation of the nba, choi young-hee grabbed a ticket for himself, but this ticket certainly does not guarantee that he can gain a foothold in the nba world.

of course, there are still many unknowns about whether choi young-hee's two-way contract can be converted to a regular contract. if there are no special circumstances, he will most likely spend his first year in the development league. in addition, choi young-hee has also made considerable sacrifices in his personal treatment in order to enter the nba. he can get a maximum of $580,000 in the development league, which is only two-thirds of the cba's maximum salary after deducting about 50% in taxes. according to choi young-hee's worth in the cba, he has a chance to get a maximum salary of 6 million yuan. in fact, a cba team asked the guangzhou team for choi young-hee's price this summer, but choi young-hee still firmly chose to enter the nba. of course, as a "lone hero" of chinese basketball in the nba, choi young-hee will definitely not care too much about his income.

stepping out of his comfort zone, choi young-hee is facing fierce competition and a life-or-death struggle. "depend on yourself" is yao ming's famous saying and the most basic principle in basketball. to impact the nba, choi young-hee can only continue to "depend on himself" and work hard to meet opportunities and achieve the transition from a two-way contract to an nba standard contract.

signing choi young-hee fulfilled boss tsai's long-cherished wish. as early as march 2019, in an interview, nets owner tsai chongxin publicly expressed his interest and desire to sign chinese players.

now, the time has finally come. the nets signed choi young-hee with a two-way contract, which can be regarded as the realization of boss tsai's long-term wish. of course, this is also inseparable from choi's own efforts. his progress this summer is visible to the naked eye. according to reports, choi young-hee will sign a two-year two-way contract with the nets, with an annual salary of about $580,000. in a team with a full regular lineup, players on two-way contracts can play up to 50 regular season games and have the opportunity to convert to regular contracts.

choi young-hee's signing with the brooklyn nets has attracted a lot of attention and heated discussion. team reporter lewis mentioned that choi young-hee and jeremy lin have the same agent. new york media person yasuke left a message saying, "linsanity 2.0." jeremy lin was also an undrafted player in the nba, but he finally seized the opportunity in 2012 and started the "linsanity" craze with the knicks, which is still talked about by new york fans today. calling choi young-hee "linsanity 2.0" also shows some of new yorkers' expectations for him.

now,

the nets are in a period of comprehensive reconstruction.

for choi young-hee,

opportunities and challenges coexist.

in choi young-hee’s own words:

"if you don't dare to try，

then you’ll never know if you can do it.”

source | lu jingjun of xinmin sports, sports weekly, tencent sports, and youth shenzhen